Marvel and DC again

When I was a kid (you know, I start way too many of these blog entries that way...) most of my comics were Marvel. I'd read DC books on occasion (Legion of Superheroes would eventually become a favorite, and I always enjoyed Doom Patrol and Metal Men) but, mainly, it was Marvel.

Back then in the Silver Age, the two companies put out products that were fairly distinctive. The art in the DC books was more precise, while that in the Marvel books was more dynamic; the Marvel heroes were drawn more expressively, while strong emotion in the DC books was often expressed with eyes averted, "choke" in a word balloon, and a hand covering the mouth. DC heroes called each other by their codenames, Marvel heroes often used their real, secret-identity names (although they did still tend to hang out in costume most of the time). DC heroes were more idealized, more stereotypically heroic; Marvel heroes seemed to have more doubts and insecurities, but still got the job done. The thing that I think clinched it for me as a kid, though, was distance--DC heroes seemed far more distant than Marvel ones. DC's tendency toward imaginary stories, gorillas, and Giant Turtle Olsen didn't help, either. (Possibly I was an unusual child, as I suspect those things were aimed directly at my age group.)*

For years I stuck entirely with Marvel to feed my comic habit. (Apart from the Legion, of course.) And I think it was habit, and familiarity.

Now, though? Thirty plus years later? I'm not seeing the same across-the-board differences that I did as a kid. I don't think they are there. I enjoy the same things in the DC books I like as I do in the Marvel books I like. I'm irritated by the same things in books put out by both companies. I'm not saying that these books are interchangeable, and I think there are some company-wide differences, and a slightly different "feel" to each company's product--I just don't seem to find them significant. Certainly nothing to inspire brand loyalty. (What I've got of that is given to Marvel, but I recognize that it comes from childhood love, not from anything inherent in the books as they stand today.)

Then again, I can never tell Coke from Pepsi, either...

BTW, what I like right this minute? Captain America and Secret Six. The twelve-year-old likes She-Hulk and (as of last week) Birds of Prey, 'cause "Batgirl rulez!"

* Yes, I'm generalizing; this was my impression as a pre-teen and I'm sure it wasn't wholly accurate.